| Aug. 8, 2008 #561 | ||||||||||||
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Table of Contents
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THIS JUST IN (Top) | ||||||||||||
(1) FBI LOOKING INTO POT RAID OF MARYLAND MAYOR'S HOME (Top) | ||||||||||||
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Cheye Calvo and His Wife Appear to Be Innocent Victims of a Marijuana Smuggling Scheme. Their Two Dogs Were Shot Dead by Officers. | ||||||||||||
BERWYN HEIGHTS, MD. -- Mayor Cheye Calvo got home from work, saw a
package addressed to his wife on the front porch and brought it
inside. | ||||||||||||
Suddenly, police with guns drawn kicked in the door and stormed in,
shooting to death the couple's two dogs and seizing the unopened
package. Inside was 32 pounds of marijuana that evidently didn't
belong to the couple. | ||||||||||||
Police now say the mayor and his wife appear to have been innocent
victims of a scheme by two men to smuggle millions of dollars' worth
of the drug by having it delivered to about half a dozen unsuspecting
recipients. | ||||||||||||
The men, who are under arrest, include a FedEx deliveryman. Investigators allege that he would drop a package off outside a home and that the other man would come by soon after to pick it up. | ||||||||||||
Now federal authorities say they're looking into what happened during
the July 29 raid. FBI Special Agent Rich Wolf said late Thursday that
the bureau had opened a civil rights investigation. | ||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||
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(2) FINGERPRINT TEST TELLS WHAT A PERSON HAS TOUCHED (Top) | ||||||||||||
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With a new analytical technique, a fingerprint can now reveal much more than the identity of a person. It can now also identify what the person has been touching: drugs, explosives or poisons, for example. | ||||||||||||
Writing in Friday's issue of the journal Science, R. Graham Cooks, a
professor of chemistry at Purdue University, and his colleagues
describe how a laboratory technique, mass spectrometry, could find a
wider application in crime investigations. | ||||||||||||
The equipment to perform such tests is already commercially available,
although prohibitively expensive for all but the largest crime
laboratories. Smaller, cheaper, portable versions of such analyzers
are probably only a couple of years away. | ||||||||||||
In Dr. Cooks's method, a tiny spray of liquid that has been
electrically charged, either water or water and alcohol, is sprayed on
a tiny bit of the fingerprint. The droplets dissolve compounds in the
fingerprints and splash them off the surface into the analyzer. The
liquid is heated and evaporates, and the electrical charge is
transferred to the fingerprint molecules, which are then identified by
a device called a mass spectrometer. The process is repeated over the
entire fingerprint, producing a two-dimensional image. | ||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||
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(3) NEW LAW PASSES FIRST TEST IN SAINT JOHN COURTROOM (Top) | ||||||||||||
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SAINT JOHN - A 33-year-old Saint John man is the first in New
Brunswick to be convicted for drug-impaired driving based on new
investigative tools provided by federal legislation. | ||||||||||||
Ralph Daniel Craig, a Dilaudid addict, was subjected to new drug detection tests by police after rear-ending another vehicle and "failed miserably," Crown prosecutor Chris Titus told provincial court. Craig was "clearly impaired by drugs," Titus said. | ||||||||||||
Craig, of no fixed address, was sentenced to 35 days in jail after
pleading guilty to impaired driving, failing to remain at the scene of
an accident and violating a probation order to keep the peace and be
of good behaviour. | ||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||
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(4) GUILTY ON ALL CHARGES (Top) | ||||||||||||
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Sentencing Is Scheduled for October 20, but Attorneys Vow to Appeal | ||||||||||||
Los Angeles - Charles Lynch, in his recent federal trial for selling
what he wasn't allowed to call medical marijuana in Morro Bay, had
set out to do the unlikely. | ||||||||||||
Selling marijuana is illegal under federal law, and yet he didn't dispute, on the stand of a federal court, that he'd sold marijuana. | ||||||||||||
Selling marijuana to people under age 21 is an even more serious crime under federal law, and yet he didn't dispute, on the stand of a federal court, that he'd sold marijuana to people younger than 21. | ||||||||||||
And selling lots of marijuana is especially illegal, and yet he
didn't dispute, on the stand of a federal court, that he'd sold
millions of dollars worth, to thousands of patients. | ||||||||||||
In short, he entered a system rigged entirely against him and
demanded a trial by a jury of his peers. | ||||||||||||
It was a bold tactic-nearly everyone who has been arrested by
federal authorities for running medical marijuana dispensaries has
taken plea bargains-but it wasn't really quixotic. Lynch's defense
was that he'd talked to representatives of the federal Drug
Enforcement Administration-they didn't deny it-and understood he
wouldn't be prosecuted if he opened a medical marijuana dispensary (
they did dispute that ).His attorneys argued that Lynch was
entrapped. | ||||||||||||
The jury didn't buy it. | ||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||
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WEEKLY NEWS IN REVIEW (Top) | ||||||||||||
Domestic News- Policy | ||||||||||||
COMMENT: (5-8) (Top) | ||||||||||||
The Rachel Hoffman case in Florida has one state legislator proposing
compensation for Hoffman's parents, while a grand jury heard
testimony about the tragedy. In Lima, Ohio, however, a victim's
family is looking for justice through the civil courts now. And, in
Hawaii, the State Attorney General decides that teachers have
negotiated away their constitutional rights. | ||||||||||||
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(5) SEN. LAWSON FILES HOFFMAN CLAIMS BILL (Top) | ||||||||||||
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Al Lawson Seeks to Pressure City to Compensate Family | ||||||||||||
State Sen. Al Lawson has filed a claims bill to compensate the
parents of Rachel Hoffman, who was shot and killed in May in an
undercover drug sting gone awry, for the negligence of Tallahassee
police in her death. Advertisement | ||||||||||||
Lawson filed his legislation Friday, the same day a grand jury
released a damning report that concluded the police department's
operations were negligent and led to 23-year-old Hoffman's death.
Friday was also the deadline to get claims bills considered in the
spring legislative session. The legislation is required if Hoffman's
parents ever settle or get a court judgment of more than $200,000
from the city in an upcoming wrongful death suit. | ||||||||||||
Lawson said Sunday he seeks to pressure the city. | ||||||||||||
"I wanted to beat the deadline ... to maybe encourage the city and
everybody else involved to continue to resolve some issues in this
case," Lawson said. "We're going to keep the pressure on them at the
state level." | ||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||
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(6) GRAND JURY HEARS TESTIMONY IN RACHEL HOFFMAN DEATH (Top) | ||||||||||||
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A Leon County grand jury will continue to hear testimony today about
the May shooting death of Rachel Hoffman, a 23-year-old woman who was
working as a Tallahassee police informant. | ||||||||||||
The grand jurors will decide whether to file first-degree murder charges. Two men, Deneilo Bradshaw, 23, of Tallahassee, and Andrea Green, 25, of Perry, have been charged with armed robbery in the case. Hoffman was to buy drugs and a gun from the men with $13,000 in marked bills, but Tallahassee police lost track of her, and she and the men disappeared. Green and Bradshaw, who were later arrested in Orlando, led investigators to her body in rural Taylor County, police said. | ||||||||||||
State Attorney Willie Meggs said about 10 witnesses, including one
police officer, testified Tuesday during the closed grand jury
session, which began about 9:30 a.m. and ended about 6 p.m. All grand
jury testimony is kept secret. | ||||||||||||
Meggs is unsure when the grand jury could return an indictment. | ||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||
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(7) GRANDMOTHER FILES LAWSUIT IN LIMA SHOOTING CASE (Top) | ||||||||||||
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A family member of the woman who was fatally shot during a police
raid at her home seven months ago filed a lawsuit Tuesday in U.S.
District Court in Toledo against the City of Lima and police Sgt.
Joseph Chavalia, claiming a violation of civil rights. | ||||||||||||
Darla Kaye Jennings filed the lawsuit on behalf of Sincere Wilson,
her 1-year-old grandson who was injured when his mother, Tarika
Wilson, 26, was shot. The lawsuit asks for compensation for
Sincere's injuries as well as seeking an end to "police abuse by
requiring that high risk search warrant executions be limited to
situations where they are truly needed and where the least amount of
force necessary to the situation is employed." | ||||||||||||
The lawsuit was filed a day after Sergeant Chavalia was found not
guilty for misdemeanor charges of negligent homicide and negligent
assault. After 3 1/2 days of testimony, the jury deliberated for
about three hours before returning the verdicts. | ||||||||||||
The charges were a result of a drug raid held at Wilson's home on E.
Third Street in Lima on Jan. 4. Lima police officers executed a
search warrant looking for Anthony Terry, who was arrested at the
home. | ||||||||||||
An unarmed Wilson was holding her son just outside a second-floor
bedroom when officers entered the home. Her five other children were
in the upstairs bedroom. | ||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||
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(8) TEACHERS' VOTE SEEN AS OK FOR DRUG TESTS (Top) | ||||||||||||
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Ratification Meant Acceptance of Random Testing, the State Attorney
General Says | ||||||||||||
Hawaii public school teachers gave up their right to raise privacy
concerns about random drug tests last year when they ratified a
contract requiring the screenings, the state argued yesterday. State
Accuses HSTU Of Bargaining In Bad Faith | ||||||||||||
In a 33-page opinion, the state Attorney General's Office wrote that
the contract's approval by a majority of some 13,000 isle teachers
in May 2007 invalidates "any constitutional search and seizure or
privacy concerns" over a random drug-testing program. | ||||||||||||
The report, released Friday by Deputy Attorney General Girard Law,
came a month after the Hawaii State Teachers Association failed to
implement a drug-testing program by a June 30 deadline. It was
addressed to Board of Education Chairwoman Donna Ikeda, who asked
for the opinion. | ||||||||||||
Ikeda could not be reached for comment. | ||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||
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Law Enforcement & Prisons | ||||||||||||
COMMENT: (9-12) (Top) | ||||||||||||
As noted above, a Lima, Ohio family needs to look for justice in the
civil courts, as a grand jury found that no one was responsible for
the shooting of an unarmed mother during a drug raid. | ||||||||||||
The fruits of the drug war make themselves apparent in Florida, where vacant homes now occupy the time of local police; and in Georgia, where more evidence suggests that Mexican cartels are taking control of some domestic U.S. drug markets. And prescription drugs apparently have a market in one North Carolina prison. | ||||||||||||
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(9) LIMA POLICE OFFICER NOT GUILTY IN DEADLY RAID (Top) | ||||||||||||
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Jury Determines His Actions Weren't Negligent | ||||||||||||
LIMA, Ohio - Police officers filling the cramped courtroom breathed
a sigh of relief, and family members of Sgt. Joseph Chavalia gasped
and whispered, "Thank God." | ||||||||||||
And those who loved Tarika Wilson cried out in anger and frustration
as a judge read the two "not guilty" verdicts for Sergeant Chavalia
yesterday. | ||||||||||||
"We're supposed to take this with a smile? We're supposed to believe
in justice?" asked an incredulous Ivory Austin II, whose half-sister
was shot to death by the veteran police officer during a Jan. 4 drug
raid at her home. | ||||||||||||
After hearing 3 1/2 days of testimony in Allen County Common Pleas
Court, the jury of four white men and four white women deliberated a
little more than three hours before returning the not-guilty
verdicts for misdemeanor charges of negligent homicide and negligent
assault. | ||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||
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(10) VACANT HOMES FILL DEPUTIES' SCHEDULES (Top) | ||||||||||||
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Captain Tells Chamber About Area Crime Rates | ||||||||||||
Vacant houses and houses filled with growing marijuana plants keep deputies busy, the captain of the Lee County Sheriff's Office district in Lehigh Acres told the chamber of commerce Tuesday. | ||||||||||||
The crime rate would be a lot lower without the vacant houses, Capt.
Ed Tamayo told about 80 people at the chamber's monthly luncheon
while talking about residential burglaries. | ||||||||||||
Tamayo spoke after he and 13 other members of the district received
a standing ovation and accepted the chamber award as member of the
month. | ||||||||||||
They protect us and our families every day, said chamber member Aldo
Ibarra, who referred to the July 18 murder of Fort Myers police
officer Andrew Widman as an example of the danger law enforcement
officers face on a daily basis. | ||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||
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(11) MEXICO'S DRUG CARTEL MOVES TO U.S. (Top) | ||||||||||||
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Atlanta a Hub for East Coast | ||||||||||||
Violence Is Following, but to a Lesser Extent | ||||||||||||
Mexico City - A series of drug-related kidnappings in Gwinnett County is part of the emergence locally of what federal authorities say is a problem of national scope: powerful Mexican drug cartels whose tactics have been honed in years of bloody conflicts in their home country. | ||||||||||||
They say the cartels operate in dozens of U.S. cities, including metro
Atlanta, and are moving to consolidate their control of the entire
supply chain of illegal drugs. | ||||||||||||
The Justice Department says that in the Atlanta area, Mexican
trafficking organizations already control the lucrative | ||||||||||||
In violence associated with the cartels, Gwinnett has seen at least
nine drug-related kidnappings this year, including a man who was bound
and chained in a basement in Lilburn and repeatedly beaten over an
alleged $300,000 drug debt. | ||||||||||||
David Nahmias, U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Georgia,
said the Atlanta area is considered especially enticing to the cartels
because it is a convenient distribution hub for the highly profitable
East Coast market. | ||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||
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(12) TWO PRISON GUARDS CHARGED WITH TRAFFICKING PRESCRIPTION MEDS (Top) | ||||||||||||
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WHITEVILLE - Two state prison guards in Columbus County have
resigned after being charged with trafficking in prescription
medication. Lawrence Patrick Norris, 29, of Old Cribb Town Road in
Chadbourn, and John Wesley Batten, 32, of Whitehall Road in
Whiteville, are charged with trafficking in opium or heroin by
possession of Percocet tablets by using forged prescriptions. Norris
is charged with three counts involving incidents on three dates.
Batten is charged with one count. Both men surrendered to
authorities. | ||||||||||||
There is no indication that either man was conducting any drug
business inside prison, said Keith Acree, the public affairs
director for the state Department of Correction. | ||||||||||||
Norris is in the Columbus County Jail with bail set at $100,000.
Batten was released on a $50,000 bond. | ||||||||||||
Warrants were obtained by Kevin Norris, a drug detective with the
Sheriff's Office. He is not related to Patrick Norris. | ||||||||||||
The detective said Patrick Norris obtained 90 Percocet tablets on
March 4 and Jan. 31 from Dameron Drugs in Tabor City and on Jan. 25
from Rite Aid in Whiteville. | ||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||
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Cannabis & Hemp- | ||||||||||||
COMMENT: (13-16) (Top) | ||||||||||||
Those imaginative trouble-makers at SAFER Colorado are up to it
again, this time calling attention to the hypocrisy of cannabis
prohibition, by calling attention to alcohol "dealers" such as
potential first lady Cindy McCain. | ||||||||||||
The U.S. Drug Czar paid a royal visit to California to praise outdoor
cannabis eradication efforts and stage a press conference. One doubts
that reporters asked any relevant questions. | ||||||||||||
A legally registered medicinal cannabis user in Ottawa is asserting
his right to smoke cannabis wherever tobacco smoking is permitted,
but finding little sympathy from tobacco smokers, nor any support
from a city counselor. | ||||||||||||
Pam Lichty of the Drug Policy Forum of Hawai'i took state officials
to task for compromising the medical records of medicinal cannabis
users, and for abdicating their responsibility to implement a
working regulatory regime. | ||||||||||||
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(13) MARIJUANA ADVOCATES TACKLE CINDY MCCAIN'S LINK TO BEER MARKET (Top) | ||||||||||||
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A Denver group that advocates for marijuana decriminalization launched
an Internet ad campaign Tuesday labeling Sen. John McCain's wife,
Cindy, a "drug dealer" because of her ownership stake in an Anheuser-
Busch distributorship. | ||||||||||||
SAFER Colorado director Mason Tvert said it would be hypocritical if a
first lady owned a beer company while people were being jailed for
smoking marijuana. | ||||||||||||
"It clearly lays out the case that Cindy McCain is not only the dealer
of a drug," Tvert said, "but the dealer of a drug far more harmful
than marijuana." | ||||||||||||
The McCain campaign declined to comment. | ||||||||||||
Safer Alternative For Enjoyable Recreation is the group behind the
2007 initiative that made marijuana Denver's "lowest law enforcement
priority" and a 2005 initiative that legalized marijuana possession of
1 ounce or less in the city. | ||||||||||||
In 2006, the group called Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper and former
Republican U.S. Senate candidate Peter Coors drug dealers for their
involvement with beer sales. | ||||||||||||
Cindy McCain is the chairwoman of Hensley & Co., an Arizona beer
distributor. | ||||||||||||
The website DrugDealerCindy.com features wanted posters of Cindy McCain, claiming that she "makes millions of dollars dealing" alcohol. | ||||||||||||
Tvert said the group is not attacking the McCain campaign. The group
isn't even anti-alcohol, he said. | ||||||||||||
"As we've been saying, this is not about party politics - it's about
partying politics," he said. "And right now when people in this
country party, they are being punished if they decide to smoke
marijuana." | ||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||
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(14) NATION'S DRUG CZAR MAKES STOP IN TULARE COUNTY TO TOUT OPERATION (Top) | ||||||||||||
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VISALIA -- Last week's drug bust involving a massive marijuana grow
site above Porterville is drawing national attention with the arrival
today of the nation's drug czar. | ||||||||||||
Ten media outlets, including CNN and CNBC, converged on the National Guard Armory building in Visalia shortly after noon for a press conference to address the relative success of the joint operation. | ||||||||||||
John Walters, director of the White House's Office of National Drug
Control Policy, McGregor Scott, U.S. attorney for the Eastern District
of California, and Tulare County Sheriff Bill Wittman each spent
several minutes answering reporters' questions. | ||||||||||||
Thursday's drug raid, which involved federal and state agencies, confiscated 26,363 marijuana plants from public lands located in the Blue Ridge area, a Joint Information Center news release said. | ||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||
"This task force has a sense of passion, a sense of confidence," Scott
said, "because we're having success." | ||||||||||||
The ongoing operation, dubbed Operation LOCCUST (Locating Organized
Cannabis Cultivators Using Saturation Tactics), has led to the seizure
of about $1.4 billion in marijuana plants and 36 arrests, authorities
report. | ||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||
Walters, the nation's drug czar, said he is proud of what federal,
state and local agencies have recently accomplished. | ||||||||||||
"It's so important for the whole country because [the marijuana] is
being shipped across the border," he said, "and it's being used to
destabilize the government of Mexico." | ||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||
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(15) RIGHT TO PUFF SPARKS TIFF (Top) | ||||||||||||
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Marijuana Activist Angry at Councillor's E-Mail | ||||||||||||
A federally licensed medicinal marijuana user is fuming after
receiving correspondence from his city councillor telling him to "Quit
taking up taxpayers' dollars" with a "frivolous" human rights
complaint. | ||||||||||||
Russell Barth lit up a joint in on the lawn of Ottawa City Hall this
weekend as he relayed his disgust at an e-mail he received from Coun.
Gord Hunter in response to an e-mail of his own. | ||||||||||||
"I am not asking for anything special except the same rights that tobacco smokers have," he said between puffs. "I don't think I should be forcing my smoke on other people, but I offer tobacco smokers and non-smokers far more courtesy than most tobacco smokers do." | ||||||||||||
Barth e-mailed Hunter on Friday asking to meet in person to discuss his assertion that his human rights were violated when a cigarette smoker outside his doctor's office building "asked me to move along." | ||||||||||||
The local comedian had previously filed a complaint with the Ontario
Human Rights Commission following an incident on May 7 when he and his
wife -- Christine Lowe, who is also a federally licensed user -- were
told not to smoke marijuana outside a comedy club. | ||||||||||||
Amend Legislation | ||||||||||||
The complaint states that the government has failed to "amend
legislation to accommodate licensed medical marijuana users" because
the club's liquor licence could be suspended if someone was caught
smoking marijuana on the premises -- even if they have a medicinal
licence. | ||||||||||||
In Barth's e-mail to Hunter, he asks for a meeting to discuss
"rectifying" the matters that led to the perceived violation of the
couple's rights. | ||||||||||||
"Tough luck on you that you feel you had your human rights violated,"
Hunter responded in an e-mail. "Tough luck on the taxpayers of Ontario
that you feel this is a serious matter." | ||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||
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(16) BLUE CARD BLUES (Top) | ||||||||||||
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Will a Government Mix-Up Create a Chilling Effect? | ||||||||||||
It's been a bad couple of months for Hawai'i's medical marijuana
program. First the Department of Public Safety's Narcotics Enforcement
Division (NED) mistakenly released the database of all 4,200 patients
to the Hawai'i Tribune Herald. Then on July 8, Gov. Linda Lingle
vetoed a bill that would have set up a task force to look at problems
with the program and report back to the Legislature. | ||||||||||||
The release of the patients' names, addresses, the location of their
plants (an invitation to thieves!), their certificate numbers and
their doctors' names caused widespread consternation among the
patients, their families and physicians, even though the information
never appeared in print. All individuals have a constitutional right
to health information privacy under Article I, Section 6, Right to
Privacy of the Hawai'i constitution, and the Brende v. Hara Supreme
Court decision. | ||||||||||||
As advocates for the seriously ill patients registered with Hawai'i's medical marijuana program, the Drug Policy Forum of Hawai'i (DPF) received three waves of phone calls and e-mails: When the original article appeared on the front page of the Hilo paper on June 27; again when the Honolulu Advertiser reported the breach on July 12; and when patients received a letter of apology from Public Safety. | ||||||||||||
To their credit, NED did appear to take the breach of confidentiality
seriously. They say they've taken steps to ensure that this won't
happen again and instructed the Herald to destroy all paper and
electronic data they may have received. They then sent a letter to
registered patients (although some never received it) informing them
of what happened, detailing the steps the NED had taken to prevent a
recurrence and apologizing for the breach. | ||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||
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International News | ||||||||||||
COMMENT: (17- ) (Top) | ||||||||||||
The Canadian Health Minister, Tony Clement, was in Mexico City last week to hector the U.N. World Health Organization (WHO) on harm reduction, labeling that as "encouraging people to inject heroin into their veins." Responded Teguest Guerma (associate director of the HIV-AIDS department at WHO): "The WHO supports harm reduction... including all interventions that benefit injecting drug users." | ||||||||||||
In Mexico, deputy attorney general Noe Ramirez Mandujano resigned
last week, reportedly due to the lack of results and increasing
violence in Mexico's intensified drug war. Lamented one Mexican
politician, "This is a state without control, incapable at a local
or national level of combating the narcos... There is no strategy
for the struggle against this." | ||||||||||||
In another defection from the ranks of prohibition, senior U.K.
police officer Chief Constable Tom Lloyd joined the growing chorus
of those who realize drug prohibition (locking up users) isn't
working. "Let's give [heroin] on the [National Health Service] and
stabilise communities, then sort out the other problems. We have
doubled the number of prisoners over the last 20 years. It hasn't
worked and never will." | ||||||||||||
When MDMA was banned in New Zealand, many people turned to
(then-legal) substances like BZP. What happens when BZP is outlawed?
People go back to MDMA, or maybe methamphetamines, too. That is the
conclusion to which Otago University law professor Kevin Dawkins
came, reports The Press newspaper in New Zealand. "Since prohibition
cannot repeal the law of supply and demand, those who prefer to
continue using BZP will be forced into the black market and the arms
of the gangs," noted Dawkins. | ||||||||||||
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(17) CLEMENT'S INSITE ATTACK LEAVES WHO RED-FACED (Top) | ||||||||||||
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Health Minister's Denunciation Occurs at Event Strongly Advocating
Safe Injection | ||||||||||||
MEXICO CITY -- The World Health Organization has strongly endorsed
safe injection sites like Vancouver's Insite as one of the "priority
interventions" that countries should implement to slow the spread of
HIV-AIDS, a view that was swiftly and firmly rejected by Canada's
Health Minister. | ||||||||||||
"Allowing and/or encouraging people to inject heroin into their veins is not harm reduction, it is the opposite. ... We believe it is a form of harm addition," Tony Clement said yesterday in Mexico City, where he is attending the XVII International AIDS Conference. | ||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||
The Health Minister's comments left officials from the agency
flummoxed and red-faced. | ||||||||||||
Teguest Guerma, associate director of the HIV-AIDS department at the WHO, who was clearly uncomfortable about the exchange between the minister and reporters about the apparent contradiction in Canada's position, would only say: "The WHO supports harm reduction." | ||||||||||||
She repeated the phrase more than a dozen times, only once adding "including all interventions that benefit injecting drug users." | ||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||
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(18) MEXICO OFFICIAL RESIGNS OVER DRUG CARTELS BATTLE (Top) | ||||||||||||
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Noe Ramirez Mandujano, a Deputy Attorney General, Had Come Under
Pressure Because of Poor Government Results. | ||||||||||||
MEXICO CITY -- A high-ranking official in the Mexican attorney general's office has resigned under pressure amid poor results in the nation's battle against kidnappers and drug traffickers. | ||||||||||||
Noe Ramirez Mandujano had served for 20 months as deputy attorney general in charge of the Office for Special Investigation Into Organized Crime before tendering his resignation Wednesday. | ||||||||||||
Violence has exploded across large swaths of Mexico as drug gangs
fight for control of lucrative smuggling routes to the United
States. | ||||||||||||
More than 2,300 people have died this year in Mexico in | ||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||
"This is a state without control, incapable at a local or national level of combating the narcos," said Juan Guerra, a federal legislator. "There is no strategy for the struggle against this." | ||||||||||||
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(19) TOP COP IN CALL FOR HEROIN ON NHS PLAN (Top) | ||||||||||||
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Heroin should be handed out on the NHS because the fight against drugs is failing, a senior police officer said yesterday. | ||||||||||||
Chief Constable Tom Lloyd believes giving users a free fix could
stop them turning to crime and harming others. | ||||||||||||
He also warned locking up junkies was not working. The | ||||||||||||
"Let's give it on the NHS and stabilise communities, then sort out
the other problems. We have doubled the number of prisoners over the
last 20 years. It hasn't worked and never will." | ||||||||||||
Mr Lloyd spoke out after a report from the UK Drug Policy Commission warned that the fight against dealers and traffickers is being lost. It found attempts to shut off supplies have had almost no impact on Britain's UKP 5.3billion drugs market. Police and customs spend hundreds of millions of pounds targeting smugglers and dealers. | ||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||
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(20) DRUG BAN WILL FUEL GANG BLACK MARKET - WARNING (Top) | ||||||||||||
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The banning of BZP party pills was "a sham" based on unreliable
research and will feed a black market headed by drug-running gangs,
a criminal law professor says. | ||||||||||||
In an article in the New Zealand Law Journal - titled The Great BZP Hoax - Otago University professor Kevin Dawkins accuses the Government of rushing through legislation to ban BZP, ignoring regulatory measures that could have curbed rampant use of the drug. | ||||||||||||
He calls the Misuse of Drugs (Classification of BZP) Amendment Act,
passed on April 1, "legislative folly" and writes that the BZP ban
will push the drug underground and expose users to other drugs such
as P and ecstasy. | ||||||||||||
"Since prohibition cannot repeal the law of supply and demand, those
who prefer to continue using BZP will be forced into the black
market and the arms of the gangs," he says. | ||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||
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HOT OFF THE 'NET (Top) | ||||||||||||
7 REASONS PARENTS SHOULD NOT TEST KIDS FOR DRUG USE | ||||||||||||
By Lindsay Lyon | ||||||||||||
Why experts say drug testing should be left to the professionals. | ||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||
DRUG TRUTH NETWORK | ||||||||||||
Century of Lies - 08/05/08 - Barney Frank | ||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||
Cultural Baggage Radio Show - 08/06/08 - Lee Brown | ||||||||||||
American Bar Association panel on drug reform with Judge Arthur
Burnett and former Drug Czar Lee Brown + Poppygate report from Glenn
Greenway & Drug War Facts with Doug McVay | ||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||
MAPS NEWS AUGUST 2008 | ||||||||||||
What do Israel, Jordan, and Burning Man Have in Common? | ||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||
WHY WE NEED A COST-BENEFIT ANALYSIS | ||||||||||||
A testimony published by RAND CORP earlier this year reflects what
Transform has long been calling for - a cost-benefit analysis of all
the policy options for the control of drugs. | ||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||
THE 5 GREATEST THINGS EVER ACCOMPLISHED WHILE HIGH | ||||||||||||
By Jack O'Brien | ||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||
WHAT YOU CAN DO THIS WEEK (Top) | ||||||||||||
WRITE A LETTER | ||||||||||||
California's Medical Marijuana In The News. A DrugSense Focus Alert. | ||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||
A LIFE AND DEATH ISSUE | ||||||||||||
Last week Rep. Serrano introduced a bill that would repeal the national syringe funding ban. If enacted, it could save hundreds of thousands of lives and millions in taxpayer dollars. Please urge your representative to support this urgent, life-saving bill. | ||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||
LETTER OF THE WEEK (Top) | ||||||||||||
THE LONG WAR OF GENARO GARCIA LUNA | ||||||||||||
By Seymour Amlen | ||||||||||||
In his article on Mexico's drug cartels, Kurtz-Phelan notes that even
though Colombia has received billions of dollars from the U.S. in the
war against drugs, "there has been no significant decrease in drug
flows out of Colombia or in the availability of cocaine or heroin in
the United States -- and yet Colombia is considered a success story."
I am sure the next time the D.E.A. announces the seizure of a large
quantity of illegal drugs, the newspapers will publish this "news"
without putting it into context -- namely, that if 10,000 tons are
seized, at least that much probably got through. | ||||||||||||
I am also sure that during Prohibition, the papers published the
claims by authorities about the confiscation of thousands of gallons
of illicit alcohol as if it were "news," instead of a denial of
reality. | ||||||||||||
Seymour Amlen | ||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||
LETTER WRITER OF THE MONTH - JULY (Top) | ||||||||||||
DrugSense recognizes Kirk Muse of Mesa, Arizona for his four letters published during July, bringing the total number of published letters archived by MAP to 1,064. Kirk is also a dedicated volunteer newshawk, having newshawked 329 MAP archived articles so far this year. | ||||||||||||
You may read Kirk's published letters at: | ||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||
FEATURE ARTICLE (Top) | ||||||||||||
Best Bet For Seeing ACLU Marijuana Video Featuring Steves? Comcast | ||||||||||||
By Carol M. Ostrom | ||||||||||||
Seattle Times health reporter | ||||||||||||
The TV program is titled "Marijuana: It's Time for a Conversation,"
but it's unlikely many viewers of network stations will be talking
about it. | ||||||||||||
Of the three local network stations, only one agreed to run the show,
produced by the American Civil Liberties Union and hosted by travel
writer Rick Steves. | ||||||||||||
KOMO-TV turned down the ACLU this week; KIRO-TV never got back to the
group at all. KING-TV ran the program in March - but only at 1 in the
morning. | ||||||||||||
ACLU produced the video to engage people in a serious conversation
about whether marijuana laws are good and working well, or are
actually harming society, said Alison Holcomb, ACLU of Washington's
marijuana-education project director. | ||||||||||||
"Our frustration is that we see plenty of prime-time TV shows depicting marijuana use in a humorous light, yet when we produce a half-hour program designed to take a serious look at our marijuana laws and their impact on our communities, we can't get any airtime." | ||||||||||||
Steves, the host of a panel discussion on the video, has been an
outspoken advocate of decriminalization of marijuana and will speak
Aug. 16-17 at Seattle Hempfest. | ||||||||||||
Producing the program cost more than $100,000, partly for studio time at KOMO, where Steves moderated a panel of local and national experts with an attentive audience nodding approval in the background. | ||||||||||||
But the heads of the TV stations, when asked to sell airtime, weren't
so receptive. | ||||||||||||
Jim Clayton, vice president and general manager at KOMO, the ABC
affiliate, refused to sell time. The show, he said, promoted marijuana
use. | ||||||||||||
"The last I checked, it's illegal," Clayton said. "We don't use our
public airways to promote illegal things." | ||||||||||||
Monday, Clayton met with ACLU Director Kathleen Taylor and others.
"They said, 'How do we generate discussion?' " Clayton recalled. "I
said, 'Get it on the ballot.' " | ||||||||||||
KIRO-TV, the CBS affiliate, did not respond to requests from the ACLU. | ||||||||||||
At KING-TV, Pat Costello, vice president and station manager, said the
video was a "very well-done program" that was "fairly balanced" and
outlined the arguments "pretty fairly, given that it's done by a group
that has an objective." | ||||||||||||
However, the show delivered "an adult message," he said. "We don't want to send the wrong message to kids that might be impressionable." | ||||||||||||
Locked into network programming slots, and not wanting to run the show during hours when children might watch, he said, left the 1 a.m. slot. In March, the show ran 11 times on KING and its affiliate, KONG, at 1 a.m. Holcomb said KING leaders told the ACLU that they were concerned about the business impact of running the show in an earlier slot, particularly about reaction from advertisers. | ||||||||||||
Holcomb said the turndown by KOMO was particularly troubling, because
the ACLU had repeatedly shared the program script with KOMO officials,
telling them they planned to buy time. They were not told of any
concerns, she said. | ||||||||||||
Comcast, which runs the show on its "On Demand" service, has reported
no complaints, Holcomb said. | ||||||||||||
But there's a big difference having to actively seek out a show and
having it on a channel a viewer might stumble upon while channel-
surfing, Clayton said. | ||||||||||||
"We're a federally licensed entity. People welcome us into their homes by flipping a switch. [The ACLU officials] said the thing is doing really well on Comcast On Demand. Of course it would. You say, 'Oh, I want to find out more about the marijuana I'm smoking right now.' " | ||||||||||||
Carol M. Ostrom is a health reporter for the Seattle Times, where this
article first appeared. | ||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||
QUOTE OF THE WEEK (Top) | ||||||||||||
"Freedom is like taking a bath -- you have to keep doing it every day!"
- Florynce Kennedy | ||||||||||||
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Policy and Law Enforcement/Prison content selection and analysis by
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Richard Lake () and Stephen Young, International
content selection and analysis by Doug Snead (),
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